Report No. 14

54. Rajasthan

1. General.-

Eighteen princely States were integrated and constituted as the State of Rajasthan. The territory of this State as reorganised in accordance with the provisions contained in section 10 of Act )(XXVII of 1956 is 1,32,300 square miles in area and is inhabited by 15,959,596 persons according to the 1951 census.

2. Subordinate Judiciary.-

The judiciary of the State is composed of two cadres:

(1) the Higher Judicial Service consisting of eighteen District and Sessions Judges (including the Law Secretary, the Registrar of the High Court, and the Joint Legal Remembrancer) and twenty Civil and Sessions Judges (including a leave and deputation reserve of three posts);

(2) the Judicial Service consisting of thirty Civil Judges (including three Small Cause Court Judges, two Deputy Registrars of the High Court, and one Assistant Legal Remembrancer) and eighty Munsifs (including a leave and deputation reserve of eighteen posts).

3. Method of recruitment to the Higher Judicial Service.-

Recruitment to the Higher Judicial Service is made by promotion from amongst the members of the Judicial Service or directly from the Bar. The number of vacancies to be filled by direct recruitment is subject to a maximum of twenty-five per cent of the total strength of the service and the number of persons so appointed during any one period of recruitment is not to exceed one-fourth of the total number of vacancies during that period.

It is provided that if the number of vacancies occurring during any period of recruitment is less than four, the proportion of direct recruits during that period of recruitment may be increased so as not to exceed one-half of the total number of vacancies subject to the condition that the total number of persons appointed to the service by direct recruitment does not at any time exceed one-fourth of the total sanctioned strength of the service. Another rule provides that if at any recruitment the number of selected direct recruits available for appointment is less than the number of recruits decided to be taken from that source, the number to be taken by promotion from the Judicial Service may be correspondingly increased. No member of the Judicial Service is eligible for promotion to the Higher Judicial Service unless he has completed seven years of service therein.

4. Recruitment to the Judicial Service.-

Recruitment to the Judicial Service is made by the Public Service Commission on the basis of a competitive examination followed by a viva voce test at which a judge of the High Court is associated with the Commission. A candidate for recruitment to this Service must not have attained twenty-seven years of age. It is provided that if a candidate entitled in respect of his age to appear at an examination in any year, is unable to do so for the reason that no such examination was held, he shall be deemed to be entitled to appear at the next following examination in spite of his exceeding the age limit. It is further provided that a candidate must have two years' practice at the Bar in the State and that every candidate shall submit along with his application a certificate from the district judge concerned with regard to such practice.

5. Reservations of posts in the Judicial Service.-

Twelve and a half per cent. of the vacancies in the Judicial Service and in the Higher Judicial Service are reserved for members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

6. Pay scales.-

The scale of pay admissible to the District and Sessions Judges is Rs. 800-50-1000-60-1300-50-1800. The Civil and Additional Sessions Judges are in the scale of Rs. 500-30-740-EB-30-800-50-900. The posts of Registrar, High Court, Law Secretary, and Joint Legal Remembrancer carry a special pay of Rs. 150, Rs. 250 and Rs. 200 per mensem respectively. The Ajmer Officers draw their salaries in their unit scales.

7. The Munsifs and Civil Judges are in the scale of Rs. 250-25-500-EB-25-750. The Deputy Registrar of the High Court who is borne on this cadre gets a special pay of Rs. 100 per month.

8. Magistracy-strength of.-

As the judiciary of the State has not been separated from the executive, the criminal judiciary consists of the executive officers. Nevertheless, as an "experimental measure", twenty-three Munsifs have been invested with magisterial powers. The strength of the magistracy is 414 made up of twenty-nine District Magistrates including four Additional District Magistrates, 111 Sub-Divisional Magistrates, 53 First Class Magistrates and 221 other Magistrates.

9. Integration of the Judicial Service of the Covenanting States and the working of magistracy.-

The conglomeration of the several princely States resulted in the integration of the judicial machineries of the different covenanting units. Some officers who were used to the "traditions" that obtained in the former "native Indian States" had to be absorbed. The Advocate-General stated in his evidence before us that "their knowledge of law and methods of working are very low and absolutely archaic. That is why with that inheritance we are passing under not a very good period."

Statements were made by several responsible witnesses including some law officers of the State that a large proportion of the magistrates could not be trusted in the matter of their integrity. We feel convinced that this evidence reflects in a considerable measure the true state of affairs which requires the immediate attention of the authorities. Persons at the helm of the administration should appreciate the elementary need of an honest administration of justice and take prompt measures to restore the confidence of the public in the integrity and impartiality of the magistracy.

The witnesses who gave evidence before us were of the view that the magistracy required to be controlled very strictly, if the integrity of this branch of the judiciary was to be maintained. Unfortunately, however, the failure of the State Government to give effect to the principle of the separation of judiciary from the executive and the continued control of the executive over the magistracy, has rendered ineffective any control that could be exercised over it by the High Court.

We were informed that some time ago, the High Court, in reply to a request by the State Government to devise ways and means for reducing the arrears in the magistrates court, expressed its unwillingness to do so, unless separation was introduced, and the magistracy brought under the administrative control of the High Court. We may however state tha.-though the separation of the judiciary from the executive is a necessary reform its absence should not deter the High Court in its capacity as the head of the judiciary in the State from laying down standards and rules for the guidance of the magistrates' courts provided the State Government is willing to enforce them. In fact this was regularly done in what was British India at a time when separation was only an ideal.

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